This invention relates to material handling equipment and particularly to an improved material flow rail assembly.
Material flow rails are employed in numerous situations wherein material either in assembled units or in holding bins are transferred from one location to another. Such devices are often found in factories, warehouses and retail outlets. The type of material flow rail to which this invention relates is the type wherein parts are caused to move by the force of gravity. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a downward slope to the rail thereby providing an urging force to move the materials along the rail.
In certain applications it is desireable to provide a material flow rail which may be employed with components or bins having very small contact or "footprint" areas. Material flow rails according to the prior art employ roller assemblies having a relatively small contact area and which are spaced far apart such that the parts to be transported by the rail must have a large, substantially flat footprint surface. It is therefore desireable to provide a material flow rail which may transport materials having small footprint areas. Cost is always a concern for equipment in commercial use, therefore it is desirable to provide a material flow rail which can be constructed and operated at the lowest possible cost. Reliability and repairability are also primary considerations in the selection of industrial and commercial equipment. In certain applications, it is necessary to provide a material flow rail which has a low vertical profile, thereby maximizing the number of such rails and spaces for container movement which may be provided within a given vertical area. Finally, it is preferable in applications wherein very heavy or high density objects are being transporteed to provide a material flow rail which has sufficient structural integrity to handle such objects which will provide excellent durability in such usage conditions.
It is accordingly a principal aspect of this invention to provide an improved material flow rail which can transport components or component bins having small footprint contact areas, which is low in cost, reliable and easy to maintain. It is a further aspect of this invention to provide a material flow rail which has a very low vertical profile and further which has the capacity to handle extremely heavy and high density components.
The above principal aspects of this invention are provided by a material flow rail featuring a plurality of low profile roller assemblies which are very closely spaced both laterally and longitudinally with respect to the longitudinal axis of the rail, thereby accomodating small footprint area components and heavy objects. The improved material flow rail according to this invention employs conventional roller bearings wherein the outer race of the bearing forms the contacting surface with which the materials being transported interfaces. The use of such components which are readily available contributes to a low overall cost for the material flow rail. Reliability is provided by loosely supporting the inner races of the bearing assemblies with a conventional bolt. Providing such loose engagement permits the inner race to rotate with respect to the bolt during use thereby presenting a new contacting surface between the inner race and the bolt. Such renewable contacting surfaces may also be provided between the bearing supporting bolt and the supporting channel. Low cost and ease of maintenance is further provided by the construction according to this invention wherein an individual bearing assemblies of the material flow rail are positioned by adjacent bearing assemblies such that spacers on the supporting bolts are not required to locate the bearing assemblies laterally.